Thank you, Sunrise. I agree that it's not a fix-all to spend time with your kids. Just, in her situation (having 3 younger siblings that require constant attention), that seemed like the most likely cause (IMO).

We have been planning a family vacation in NC (my mom, step-dad, sis, BIL, all nieces and nephew, brother, his gf, me and my bf). We have been planning this for MONTHS. So my niece is still going. My sis doesn't want to let her go and feel like she's not being punished but at the same time, she doesn't feel comfortable leaving her alone and isn't going to cancel their entire vacation for her to be grounded.

I imagine this will come up this week. I know that I'm probably going to be expected to have a heart to heart with her to try and figure out what's really going on. I expect to have to bare my soul a little bit to have her know that I understand whatever she is going through.

Maybe I can get her to talk to me about what's on her mind.